Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
ReutersThe grand prize, of course, is A-Rod. Everything about Mr. Moneybags going to the Dodgers makes sense — they could use a reliable third baseman as well as a mighty bat, he would quickly become the biggest star in the second-largest media market in the country (assuming Kobe Bryant is shipped out as expected, and David Beckham continues to toil in gimpy obscurity), the region has a large Latino population, and signing him would be a major slap at the Angels down the freeway.
The money does not make sense. It’s somewhat of a shock that the Dodgers would even consider signing someone like Torre — who made $7 million last year to $600,000 for Little — to be their manager. A-Rod and his agent, Scott Boras, want to set records with his next contract. They want CEO golden-parachute money, times three.
That’s not McCourt’s M.O. His tendency is to overcharge for everything — tickets, parking, concessions — then field a team that purports to be competitive but is in reality just a flea market collection of cheap youngsters and down-on-their-luck veterans. The Dodgers signing A-Rod would be like your local diner hiring Mario Batali as a cook.
Yet if McCourt really has designs on his Dodgers becoming the Yankees West, he needs to do more than hire Torre and Mattingly while impetuously firing the occasional underling. He needs to send tremors through the sports world, like George Steinbrenner. He doesn’t need to prattle on about excellence and tradition without backing it up, like Hank Steinbrenner.
Torre indeed will help. His mere presence in the dugout will raise the credibility level beyond the upper deck. And if anyone can mend the geezer-punk rift that ripped apart the clubhouse last season, it’s Torre. He is to major leaguers what Jerry West is to NBA players.
But if the Dodgers want to make a Yankee-like statement, they have to go hard after A-Rod, and perhaps even Posada and Rivera. Back when George Steinbrenner could remember that he was George Steinbrenner, that’s the way he would have done it.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
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